Big and Rich Compare Sam Hunt To Johnny Cash

(Radio.com) Sam Hunt is seen by many country fans and artists as one of the genre's boundary breaking artists, due to his unconventional blend of modern hip-hop and R&B with country.

So it may raise eyebrows that Big & Rich's Big Kenny and Jon Rich compare him to country music legend Johnny Cash. (And, of course, Big & Rich enjoy raising eyebrows on occasion). But both members of the duo are certainly fans of Hunt.

Big Kenny told Hunt, "When Jon and I first listened to your music, we said, 'That's fresh!' And to this day, you're putting out fresh music." He then asked, "What goes through your mind when you write a song like 'Body Like a Back Road?'" To which Rich responded, "You know what's going through his mind!"

Hunt sheepishly noted that women provide a lot of inspiration for his songs. Rich noted, "A lot of things about your style mimic the old-school great guys, and I don't know if a lot of people would make this comparison. But if you think about Johnny Cash, for instance — you don't sound like Johnny Cash — but Johnny Cash was incorporating rock and roll and gospel and all kinds of things into what he called, 'That's my brand of country music.' And people said, 'Johnny Cash isn't country, he's singing about subjects that we don't allow on the Opry.' And he said, 'Well, that's what I sound like.'"

He continued, "Conway Twitty, they said, 'He's a pop singer,' 'He's an Elvis impersonator.' Alabama: they were [called] 'Southern rock.' With Sam Hunt, they say, 'What am I listening to?' It's Sam Hunt's country, that's what it is!" Watch the interview here.

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